Yesaya 43:1

The Lord Will Rescue His People

43:1 Now, this is what the Lord says,

the one who created you, O Jacob,

and formed you, O Israel:

“Don’t be afraid, for I will protect ¹  you.

I call you by name, you are mine.

Yesaya 44:1-2

The Lord Will Renew Israel

44:1 “Now, listen, Jacob my servant,

Israel whom I have chosen!”

44:2 This is what the Lord, the one who made you, says –

the one who formed you in the womb and helps you:

“Don’t be afraid, my servant Jacob,

Jeshurun, ²  whom I have chosen!

Yesaya 44:21

44:21 Remember these things, O Jacob,

O Israel, for you are my servant.

I formed you to be my servant;

O Israel, I will not forget you! ³ 

Yesaya 48:12

48:12 Listen to me, O Jacob,

Israel, whom I summoned!

I am the one;

I am present at the very beginning

and at the very end. ⁴ 

Yesaya 49:3

49:3 He said to me, “You are my servant,

Israel, through whom I will reveal my splendor.” ⁵ 

Keluaran 19:5-6

19:5 And now, if you will diligently listen to me ⁶  and keep ⁷  my covenant, then you will be my ⁸  special possession ⁹  out of all the nations, for all the earth is mine, 19:6 and you will be to me ¹⁰  a kingdom of priests ¹¹  and a holy nation.’ ¹²  These are the words that you will speak to the Israelites.”

Imamat 25:42

25:42 Since they are my servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt, they must not be sold in a slave sale. ¹³ 

Ulangan 7:6-8

7:6 For you are a people holy ¹⁴  to the Lord your God. He ¹⁵  has chosen you to be his people, prized ¹⁶  above all others on the face of the earth.

The Basis of Israel’s Election

7:7 It is not because you were more numerous than all the other peoples that the Lord favored and chose you – for in fact you were the least numerous of all peoples. 7:8 Rather it is because of his ¹⁷  love ¹⁸  for you and his faithfulness to the promise ¹⁹  he solemnly vowed ²⁰  to your ancestors ²¹  that the Lord brought you out with great power, ²²  redeeming ²³  you from the place of slavery, from the power ²⁴  of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

Ulangan 10:15

10:15 However, only to your ancestors did he ²⁵  show his loving favor, ²⁶  and he chose you, their descendants, ²⁷  from all peoples – as is apparent today.

Ulangan 14:2

14:2 For you are a people holy ²⁸  to the Lord your God. He ²⁹  has chosen you to be his people, prized ³⁰  above all others on the face of the earth.

Mazmur 33:12

33:12 How blessed ³¹  is the nation whose God is the Lord,

the people whom he has chosen to be his special possession. ³² 

Mazmur 105:6

105:6 O children ³³  of Abraham, ³⁴  God’s ³⁵  servant,

you descendants ³⁶  of Jacob, God’s ³⁷  chosen ones!

Mazmur 105:42-45

105:42 Yes, ³⁸  he remembered the sacred promise ³⁹ 

he made to Abraham his servant.

105:43 When he led his people out, they rejoiced;

his chosen ones shouted with joy. ⁴⁰ 

105:44 He handed the territory of nations over to them,

and they took possession of what other peoples had produced, ⁴¹ 

105:45 so that they might keep his commands

and obey ⁴²  his laws.

Praise the Lord!

Mazmur 135:4

135:4 Indeed, ⁴³  the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself,

Israel to be his special possession. ⁴⁴ 

Yeremia 33:24

33:24 “You have surely noticed what these people are saying, haven’t you? They are saying, ⁴⁵  ‘The Lord has rejected the two families of Israel and Judah ⁴⁶  that he chose.’ So they have little regard that my people will ever again be a nation. ⁴⁷ 

[43:1]  ¹ tn Or “redeem.” See the note at 41:14. Cf. NCV “saved you”; CEV “rescued you”; NLT “ransomed you.”

[44:2]  ² sn Jeshurun is a poetic name for Israel; it occurs here and in Deut 32:15; 33:5, 26.

[44:21]  ³ tc The verb in the Hebrew text is a Niphal imperfect with a pronominal suffix. Although the Niphal ordinarily has the passive sense, it can have a reflexive nuance as well (see above translation). Some have suggested an emendation to a Qal form: “Do not forget me” (all the ancient versions, NEB, REB; see GKC 369 §117.x). “Do not forget me” would make a good parallel with “remember these things” in the first line. Since the MT is the harder reading and fits with Israel’s complaint that God had forgotten her (Isa 40:27), the MT reading should be retained (NASB, NKJV, NRSV, ESV). The passive has been rendered as an active in the translation in keeping with contemporary English style (so also NIV, NCV, TEV, NLT).

[48:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “I [am] he, I [am the] first, also I [am the] last.”

[49:3]  ⁵ sn This verse identifies the servant as Israel. This seems to refer to the exiled nation (cf. 41:8-9; 44:1-2, 21; 45:4; 48:20), but in vv. 5-6 this servant says he has been commissioned to reconcile Israel to God, so he must be distinct from the exiled nation. This servant is an ideal “Israel” who, like Moses of old, mediates a covenant for the nation (see v. 8), leads them out of bondage (v. 9a), and carries out God’s original plan for Israel by positively impacting the pagan nations (see v. 6b). By living according to God’s law, Israel was to be a model of God’s standards of justice to the surrounding nations (Deut 4:6-8). The sinful nation failed, but the servant, the ideal “Israel,” will succeed by establishing justice throughout the earth.

[19:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “listen to my voice.” The construction uses the imperfect tense in the conditional clause, preceded by the infinitive absolute from the same verb. The idiom “listen to the voice of” implies obedience, not just mental awareness of sound.

[19:5]  ⁷ tn The verb is a perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive; it continues the idea in the protasis of the sentence: “and [if you will] keep.”

[19:5]  ⁸ tn The lamed preposition expresses possession here: “to me” means “my.”

[19:5]  ⁹ tn The noun is סְגֻלָּה (sÿgullah), which means a special possession. Israel was to be God’s special possession, but the prophets will later narrow it to the faithful remnant. All the nations belong to God, but Israel was to stand in a place of special privilege and enormous responsibility. See Deut 7:6; 14:2; 26:18; Ps 135:4; and Mal 3:17. See M. Greenburg, “Hebrew sÿgulla: Akkadian sikiltu,” JAOS 71 (1951): 172ff.

[19:6]  ¹⁰ tn Or “for me” (NIV, NRSV), or, if the lamed (ל) preposition has a possessive use, “my kingdom” (so NCV).

[19:6]  ¹¹ tn The construction “a kingdom of priests” means that the kingdom is made up of priests. W. C. Kaiser (“Exodus,” EBC 2:417) offers four possible renderings of the expression: 1) apposition, viz., “kings, that is, priests; 2) as a construct with a genitive of specification, “royal priesthood”; 3) as a construct with the genitive being the attribute, “priestly kingdom”; and 4) reading with an unexpressed “and” – “kings and priests.” He takes the latter view that they were to be kings and priests. (Other references are R. B. Y. Scott, “A Kingdom of Priests (Exodus xix. 6),” OTS 8 [1950]: 213-19; William L. Moran, “A Kingdom of Priests,” The Bible in Current Catholic Thought, 7-20). However, due to the parallelism of the next description which uses an adjective, this is probably a construct relationship. This kingdom of God will be composed of a priestly people. All the Israelites would be living wholly in God’s service and enjoying the right of access to him. And, as priests, they would have the duty of representing God to the nations, following what they perceived to be the duties of priests – proclaiming God’s word, interceding for people, and making provision for people to find God through atonement (see Deut 33:9,10).

[19:6]  ¹² tn They are also to be “a holy nation.” They are to be a nation separate and distinct from the rest of the nations. Here is another aspect of their duty. It was one thing to be God’s special possession, but to be that they had to be priestly and holy. The duties of the covenant will specify what it would mean to be a holy nation. In short, they had to keep themselves free from everything that characterized pagan people (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 171). So it is a bilateral covenant: they received special privileges but they must provide special services by the special discipline. See also H. Kruse, “Exodus 19:5 and the Mission of Israel,” North East Asian Journal of Theology 24/25 (1980): 239-42.

[25:42]  ¹³ tn Or perhaps reflexive Niphal rather than passive, “they shall not sell themselves [as in] a slave sale.”

[7:6]  ¹⁴ tn That is, “set apart.”

[7:6]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[7:6]  ¹⁶ tn Or “treasured” (so NIV, NRSV); NLT “his own special treasure.” The Hebrew term סְגֻלָּה (sÿgullah) describes Israel as God’s choice people, those whom he elected and who are most precious to him (cf. Exod 19:4-6; Deut 14:2; 26:18; 1 Chr 29:3; Ps 135:4; Eccl 2:8 Mal 3:17). See E. Carpenter, NIDOTTE 3:224.

[7:8]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the Lord’s.” See note on “He” in 7:6.

[7:8]  ¹⁸ tn For the verb אָהַב (’ahav, “to love”) as a term of choice or election, see note on the word “loved” in Deut 4:37.

[7:8]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “oath.” This is a reference to the promises of the so-called “Abrahamic Covenant” (cf. Gen 15:13-16).

[7:8]  ²⁰ tn Heb “swore on oath.”

[7:8]  ²¹ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 12, 13).

[7:8]  ²² tn Heb “by a strong hand” (NAB similar); NLT “with such amazing power.”

[7:8]  ²³ sn Redeeming you from the place of slavery. The Hebrew verb translated “redeeming” (from the root פָּדָה, padah) has the idea of redemption by the payment of a ransom. The initial symbol of this was the Passover lamb, offered by Israel to the Lord as ransom in exchange for deliverance from bondage and death (Exod 12:1-14). Later, the firstborn sons of Israel, represented by the Levites, became the ransom (Num 3:11-13). These were all types of the redemption effected by the death of Christ who described his atoning work as “a ransom for many” (Matt 20:28; cf. 1 Pet 1:18).

[7:8]  ²⁴ tn Heb “hand” (so KJV, NRSV), a metaphor for power or domination.

[10:15]  ²⁵ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 10:4.

[10:15]  ²⁶ tn Heb “take delight to love.” Here again the verb אָהַב (’ahav, “love”), juxtaposed with בָחַר (bakhar, “choose”), is a term in covenant contexts that describes the Lord’s initiative in calling the patriarchal ancestors to be the founders of a people special to him (cf. the note on the word “loved” in Deut 4:37).

[10:15]  ²⁷ tn The Hebrew text includes “after them,” but it is redundant in English style and has not been included in the translation.

[14:2]  ²⁸ tn Or “set apart.”

[14:2]  ²⁹ tn Heb “The Lord.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[14:2]  ³⁰ tn Or “treasured.” The Hebrew term סְגֻלָּה (sÿgullah) describes Israel as God’s choice people, those whom he elected and who are most precious to him (cf. Exod 19:4-6; Deut 14:2; 26:18; 1 Chr 29:3; Ps 135:4; Eccl 2:8 Mal 3:17). See E. Carpenter, NIDOTTE 3:224.

[14:2]  sn The Hebrew term translated “select” (and the whole verse) is reminiscent of the classic covenant text (Exod 19:4-6) which describes Israel’s entry into covenant relationship with the Lord. Israel must resist paganism and its trappings precisely because she is a holy people elected by the Lord from among the nations to be his instrument of world redemption (cf. Deut 7:6; 26:18; Ps 135:4; Mal 3:17; Titus 2:14; 1 Pet 2:9).

[33:12]  ³¹ tn The Hebrew noun is an abstract plural. The word often refers metonymically to the happiness that God-given security and prosperity produce (see Pss 1:1; 2:12; 34:9; 41:1; 65:4; 84:12; 89:15; 106:3; 112:1; 127:5; 128:1; 144:15).

[33:12]  ³² tn Heb “inheritance.”

[105:6]  ³³ tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”

[105:6]  ³⁴ tc Some mss have “Israel,” which appears in the parallel version of this psalm in 1 Chr 16:13.

[105:6]  ³⁵ tn Heb “his”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[105:6]  ³⁶ tn Heb “sons.”

[105:6]  ³⁷ tn Heb “his”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[105:42]  ³⁸ tn Or “for.”

[105:42]  ³⁹ tn Heb “his holy word.”

[105:43]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “and he led his people out with joy, with a ringing cry, his chosen ones.”

[105:44]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “and the [product of the] work of peoples they possessed.”

[105:45]  ⁴² tn Heb “guard.”

[135:4]  ⁴³ tn Or “for.”

[135:4]  ⁴⁴ sn His special possession. The language echoes Exod 19:5; Deut 7:6; 14:2; 26:18. See also Mal 3:17.

[33:24]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “Have you not seen what this people have said, saying.” The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer. The sentence has been broken in two to better conform with contemporary English style.

[33:24]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “The two families which the Lord chose, he has rejected them.” This is an example of an object prepositioned before the verb and resumed by a redundant pronoun to throw emphasis of focus on it (called casus pendens in the grammars; cf. GKC 458 §143.d). Some commentators identify the “two families” as those of David and Levi mentioned in the previous verses, and some identify them as the families of the Israelites and of David mentioned in the next verse. However, the next clause in this verse and the emphasis on the restoration and regathering of Israel and Judah in this section (cf. 33:7, 14) show that the reference is to Israel and Judah (see also 30:3, 4; 31:27, 31 and 3:18).

[33:24]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “and my people [i.e., Israel and Judah] they disdain [or look down on] from being again a nation before them.” The phrase “before them” refers to their estimation, their mental view (cf. BDB s.v. פָּנֶה II.4.a[g]). Hence it means they look with disdain on the people being a nation again (cf. BDB s.v. עוֹד 1.a[b] for the usage of עוֹד [’od] here).